Veterans Homelessness: A Tale of Two Coasts

Veteran homelessness across California dropped by 5.2 percent since last year, according to a new national estimate announced November 1, 2018, by U.S. Housing and Urban Development.

HUD’s Annual Homeless Assessment Report found that veteran homelessness dropped by 4.1 percent in San Francisco, 5.3 percent in Marin County, 4.8 percent in San Mateo County, 0.3 percent in Santa Clara County and 0.9 percent in Alameda County.

The report found a national drop of 5.4 percent, and a decrease to nearly-half the number of homeless veterans reported in 2010.

“We’ve made great strides in our efforts to end veteran homelessness, but we still have a lot of work to do to ensure those who wore our nation’s uniform have access to stable housing,” HUD Secretary Ben Carson said in a statement.

HUD officials also found almost 10-percent decline nationally since last year among female veterans experiencing homelessness.

Meanwhile on the right coast, in May of 2018, the Metropolitan Council of Governments notes a slight increase in the first time in five years in the number of homeless veterans in the Washington Metro Region. VOTR wants to do more to get these statistics moving back in the right direction.